Vertical Roaster Safety Tips

Gyros are made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. It usually consists of seasoned ground lamb and/or beef and stacked in the shape of an inverted cone that turns slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. Gyros and the similar doner and shawarma, originated in Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East and Asia.

Al pastor (from Spanish, "shepherd style"), also known as tacos al pastor, is a taco made with spit-grilled pork. The cooking method is based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico.

There are several critical food safety problems that may develop due to the unique cooking method associated with the cooking of these meat products.

Food Safety Tips for Al Pastor and Gyros

• Cook gyros meat and al pastor meat to at least 155°F to kill E. coli and other food-borne pathogens.
• Continually cook the meat roll once it is on the broiler. Intermittent cooking is not allowed and the broiler elements must be turned on whenever the meat is present.
• Cook and slice the entire meat roll within 4 hours. The meat roll should never be cooled and reheated. Due to the slow cooking process, parts of the meat roll are kept in the temperature danger zone for extended periods of time making safely cooling and reheating impossible.
• Hold the cut slices of cooked meat in a steam table or other hot holding unit so the meat remains at 135°F or above until served.
• Rapidly cool any leftover slices of cooked meat to 70°F within 2 hours and to 41°F within 4 more hours. The meat slices must then be rapidly reheated to 165°F before serving.